Posts Categorised: Soft Skills Success Stories

They it’s not what you know, but who you know. We are going to discuss that theory and much more as we look at why relationships are at the core of all business these days and how our ability to manage them is paramount if we are going to be successful in practically any job.

The benefits of managing relationships with workers, former colleagues, bosses and others

Here are some hints for better managing business relationships:

Make amends. If you have a bad business relationship, fix it. Now.

Scroll through your phone contacts every week or two. I sometimes see someone’s contact information that I haven’t talked to and have called or emailed them right away. Everything happens for a reason.

Find beneficial ways to interact. I like to send articles to people that I think they might find valuable. They seem to like it. It shows I am thinking of them, and it’s easy enough to send an article.

Just say hey. Sometimes it’s great to hear from someone who you haven’t heard from in a while. I had a former coworker who I helped mentor contact me recently out of the blue. She told me she missed “my first mentor.” It made my day.

Use LinkedIn. I love LinkedIn. It allows me to know what other people are up to, to be able to contact them when they change jobs or locations and it’s all free. I like to see who is celebrating birthdays, job anniversaries or whatever else. I respond often, and it pays off. Ten minutes in the morning or evening can yield great fruit with LinkedIn, or do it every Sunday night.

Be grateful. If all else fails, contact someone at least once a week who has had a profound effect on your career and tell him or her that. Believe me, if that’s where the conversation starts, it will end much better – for both of you.

Have you joined The Soft Skills Revolution at The Soft Skills Revolution? Why not? We are giving resources out for free to people interested in better understanding their soft skills. It’s free and it’s easy. Just provide your email and away you go. Nothing to buy or sell. Jut go to thesoftskillsrevolution.com.

Next Week

Next week, we will tackle another soft skill. New episodes come out each Wednesday. Until next week, thanks for listening, good day and good soft skills.

People ask us all the time how we got into soft skills so today, we’re going to explain how each of us came to this place and why we know soft skills are so important. All that and more in a few seconds.

Cohosts Dr. Tobin Porterfield and Bob Graham discuss:

Their individual paths toward leading the soft skills revolution

Why they feel compelled to lead this charge

Examples from their lives, including one from supply chain work, where soft skills made all the difference

If you liked what you heard today or in another episode, then give us a great review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. Share our podcast with someone you know. And by all means, go to TheSoftSkillsRevolution.com and join our revolution. We want to change the world’s view on soft skills and you can help us.

Next week

We will look at another one of the soft skills. New episodes are posted every Wednesday.

We celebrate our first anniversary of the podcast with a celebration, with lessons learned, and even some hints of what’s in the pipeline for the podcast and soft skills on this week’s Serious Soft Skills podcast.

Cohosts Dr. Tobin Porterfield and Bob Graham discuss the following:

What they didn’t expect about podcasting

How they and the podcast has evolved over the year

Why the podcast is so topical

What the Soft Skills Revolution is

How soft skills fit in with technical skills

More soft skills in more ways

Next Week

We will be discussing the emergence of cobots and what they mean for soft skills. It’s cutting edge and you won’t want to miss it. New episodes come out every Wednesday.

Yes, it’s shameless self-promotion, but someone has to do it. And Cohosts Dr. Tobin Porterfield and Bob Graham finally celebrate the long-awaited release of the paperback version of The 55 Soft Skills That Guide Employee and Organizational Success and explain how reading it will help anyone who works.

Dr. Tobin Porterfield and Bob Graham explain how to become more effective as a networker, what soft skills you should be applying and how you can overcome your fears and reluctance to make connections that can enhance your career.

LinkedIn.com in 2016 found that 85% of all jobs come from networking. Therefore, our ability to be successful at formal and informal networking can play a huge role in our career enhancement and opportunities.

Among the topics they discuss are:

How to approach networking

Networking for introverts or reluctant networkers

Negotiating your way through formal networking events

Ways to win at informal networking events

Networking as a means of building trust, which can may lead to business

What your network can do for you and others in your network

How networking can help you better understand your customers

Taking advantage of opportunities that come through networking

Getting ready to be successful at networking

The soft skills that underpin successful networking

Why “I can help you” won’t work

The wingman approach to networking

Six things help you to gain trust in seconds

Order our book, The 55 Soft Skills that Guide Employee and Organizational Success, from https://serioussoftskills.com. Use the coupon code “six weeks” to save 50% on the price. But act before the coupon code expires.

Next week

We will dig deeper into becoming a Networking Ninja by playing through some typical scenarios that face people who are networking like how to end a discussion without upsetting anyone.

It’s Week 4 of the Six Weeks of Serious Soft Skills Strategy, where we will be looking at how to incorporate soft skills into a job interview. Armed with this ability, you will zoom to the top of every job search list.

In Episode 29 of the Serious Soft Skills Podcast, Dr. Tobin Porterfield and Bob Graham continue to put soft skills to work for you in your quest to obtain a better job or a promotion. This week, we’re going to talk through how to use soft skills as an interviewee.

Among the topics covered:

Soft skills are best conveyed in storytelling, which is a soft skill.

Rather than reciting facts, give context.

Show passion, show initiative, show you did more than what was required.

Why you want to be sticky to the interviewer

How long an anecdote or story should be

Dealing with open-ended questions

Highlighting your transferrable skills

How you want to be remembered by the employer or search committee

How to take control of the interview and make sure you get to explain your soft skills

Dealing with behavioral questions

What you need to do in advance to be ready to integrate soft skills into an interview

Why you should take EVERY interview offered

Next week

Next week we will be starting the last part of our Six Weeks of Soft Skills Strategy. For the next two weeks, we will look at the soft skills and interviewing from the employer’s perspective. Not only will this help people looking to hire, but potential interviewees will obtain even more insights into how to integrate soft skills into their job search. Coming up next week on the Serious Soft Skills Podcast.

To launch the Six Weeks of Serious Soft Skills Strategy, Dr. Tobin Porterfield and Bob Graham discuss their new book, The 55 Soft Skills that Guide Employee and Organizational Success, its origins and how it will help every employee and leader be more effective this year.

Hosts Dr. Tobin Porterfield and Bob Graham have released a new ebook, The 55 Soft Skills that Guide Employee and Organizational Success, that offers the first comprehensive look at the 55 soft skills they have uncovered through their research of academic research and business.

The hosts also offer a special code to make the $4.99 ebook purchase free. Listen to uncover the discount code.

Get our new ebook, The 55 Soft Skills that Guide Employee and Organizational Success, at https://serioussoftskills.com/resources/the-55-soft-skills-that-guide-employee-and-organizational-success/ Use the coupon code “sixweeks” to get the ebook for free.

In this episode, they also discuss:

Their Six Weeks of Serious Soft Skills Strategy, where they will share specific ways to use the 55 soft skills they have uncovered to improve your career and your organization’s success this year and beyond

Why they wrote The 55 Soft Skills that Guide Employee and Organizational Success

Who can benefit from reading the ebook

How to obtain a free copy of the ebook

How to leverage the 55 soft skills contained in the ebook to improve your career

Where the 55 soft skills can help organizations grow and innovate

Next week

A discussion of how the 55 soft skills addressed in The 55 Soft Skills that Guide Employee and Organizational Success can boost your success in a job search.